


The River Lethe

by izzyisamachine



Category: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
Genre: Angst, Gen, Inspired by Greek Mythology, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 16:45:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6384418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/izzyisamachine/pseuds/izzyisamachine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sooner or later we all drown.</p>
<p>(aka some Spirited Away inspired poetry with Greek Mythology references because I am a nerd)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The River Lethe

**Author's Note:**

> Recently watched the movie Spirited Away again and it made me cry. Also I tried writing poetry. Enjoy ??

Summer is dying  
For we have, once again, neglected to believe in it.

As the cold creeps nearer and nearer, the water droplets scattered by the spirits in the early morning are slowly frozen by the breath of  
Something crueler.  
We cast aside Summer like a childhood nickname,  
An old shirt that has been worn, bent out of shape, and then discarded.

As the days grow imperceptibly shorter,  
We leave the streets at night,  
For there are monsters in the dark.

But yet, we ignore the passing of Summer,  
Refuse to pay it the proper respects as it lies on its deathbed.  
Instead, we let the leaves fall from the trees, we let our eyes grow ever darker.  
We let the rivers freeze,  
And we welcome the death of Summer with fanfare and opulence and hunger  
As we shovel dirt into our mouths  
And call it gold.

An old woman sits in her chair,  
Telling of a long forgotten love affair that she had  
When she was but a child  
Crashing headfirst into her future like a speeding car  
Destined for an auto wreck and  
Doomed to drown in the water of memory.  
She sighs and remembers a boy  
With eyes like glass bottles  
Shared on the banks of a mighty river  
That is no longer there.

She closes her eyes and  
Dreams of ever spinning merry-go-rounds and  
Sticky ice creams and  
Forbidden feasts and  
The steam of a hot bath and  
Of a time when dragons stretched  
Still across an ever blue sky and  
Of a boy  
Stretching out a hand for her to hold as she fell,  
Of beasts and spirits  
And of scales floating away in the wind like sakura petals (how romantic),  
The closest thing to true love that she has ever known.

She sings her final swan song,  
Orpheus inverted.  
"I wish I had looked back,"  
She says.  
"I wish I had looked back just once."


End file.
